What does helping yourself mean?

Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan says, there are two types of religion in the world. One is about serving the world where beneficiaries are the people of the world at large, and second is all about helping yourself, the true Self (the Self, the Soul).

What does helping oneself mean? It means to live a life devoid of kashays i.e. anger-pride-deceit-greed. Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan says, “The one who serves the Self, is doing something higher than serving the world.”

Characteristics of serving oneself

One who is serving one’s own true Self does not cause hurt to anyone whosoever, this is the first and foremost characteristic. It includes not telling lies, not stealing, not causing any harm to others. Furthermore, it also implies not hoarding money or other things, practicing celibacy, and not causing hurt to the other person even for sensual pleasures, all this comprises in service to self. In short, living life, following the Five Great Vows (Non-stealing, Non-violence, Non-acquisitiveness, Truth, and Celibacyis equivalent to helping yourself.

One who is helping oneself does not indulge in snatching away others’ belongings, in cheating people, in humiliating or insulting others. Moreover, even if everyone in this world is causing harm to them, they do not cause slightest hurt to anyone. They not only cause any harm to others externally, but even internally also, they do not harness any negative feelings like “May you suffer.” On the contrary, they wish good for those who have caused harm to them, “May you be happy, may things go well for you.”

Hence, for helping yourself, first of all, you must make a firm decision that, “I do not want to cause hurt to anyone.” Now, after deciding, in case we happen to hurt someone, then you should do a deep analysis, “In what all ways are we causing hurt to others?” Whenever your thoughts, words or actions happen to cause hurt to others, you should repent for our mistake whole-heartedly and resolve to never cause any hurt to anyone again. When someone hurts, you must not protect ourselves saying, “That person has harmed me, now if I hurt him, what’s wrong in that?” Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan says, every morning, five times, ask for strength from the God you believe in, that, “Let no living being in this world be hurt, even in the slightest degree, through this mind, speech or body.”

Knowing the Self, then serving the Self

Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan says, “If one obliges his own Self, then he would be eternally blessed, but for that, one has to Know one’s own Self [Soul]. Until then, one should help others, but the return received for that will be materialistic. In order to Know one’s own Self, one would have to realize ‘who am I.’”

Actually, only after knowing our true Self, can we do ourselves favor. Once we know who we really are, and hold the faith that “I am a Soul”, service is rendered with the understanding that no other Soul should be hurt.

Once we realize our Self, we live in the form of our true Self, then there remains no feeling of separation with the other Soul. Every interaction happens while seeing the other person’s Soul as God. God is present in every living being, in whom this understanding prevails, no one gets hurt through their kashays (inner enemies of anger-pride-deceit-greed) or sensual indulgence.